Category Archives: Documentary
Documentary
Flash Movie Review: He Named Me Malala
Even when education is supposed to be free it may come with a price. I was fortunate to grow up in a place where every child was obligated to have access to free education. However, I did not realize my schooling would take a toll on me. Until my college days my school years were filled with a variety of land mines, some intended for me others just because I was the victim who happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. There were school days where I was that day’s target, where the usual bullies focused on making my life miserable. Being overweight at the time, I was an easy target for them. There were times I was smacked in the back of the head with a textbook or knocked down with a shove as I walked between classrooms; those were some of the mildest ones. I used to wonder why I was singled out but looking back now I know there were others who were going through their own misery. The few incidents where I thought I saw another student being abused, I could not figure out what we all had in common that would trigger such an attack. In the big picture the things that took place in my school years were traumatic for me and there were times I did not want to go to school. The majority of attacks took place in the school building; if I could last until the final bell and get out past the school grounds, I knew there would be a chance I would be a less likely target. This was not the case for this extraordinary teenager who was targeted for being a girl. PAKISTANI teenager Malala Yousafzai was a vocal advocate for girls’ education in a country where females were being denied the right. Her outspokenness was enough reason to be targeted for assassination by the Taliban. This film festival nominated documentary’s subject was bigger than the story. Malala is an incredible, articulate, passionate individual who would not let a bullet stop her. Directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman), I wanted to learn more than I already knew about Malala, the youngest person to ever win a Nobel prize. Sadly this movie did not provide information in a cohesive way; places and times jumped around to the point where I felt I was only getting snippets of Malala’s life, without really getting any background story. The mix of animated scenes into the dialog was understandable since they tended to depict some of the more dangerous aspects of her life. As I said earlier, she truly was bigger than what this movie was capable of showing the viewer. It was because of Malala that I was able to stay engaged and interested in what was taking place on screen.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
There are some people who are just as fierce or even fiercer in protecting their non-human babies as they are with their human ones. Whether the person is a creative or scientific genius, they treat their creation with the utmost concern and love. Now I am no genius but I can understand the feelings of being protective towards something one has created. There was a time where I would record mixes of songs to use in my fitness classes. It would take hours, sometimes days, for me to make a continuous recording of songs. With one turntable, one CD player and a tape deck I would count out the beats to every song I was going to use then try to blend them together. It was a fulfilling experience for me because the members in my classes absolutely loved my song choices. There were times they or fellow aerobic instructors would ask if they could get a copy of my music but I always declined them. At the time I felt with all the work I put into it, besides the expense of buying each song, I did not want to share or sell my work to anyone else. My music represented a part of me if that makes any sense. There was another reason why I did not copy my music. To record the original artist’s music, I paid dues to the copyright agencies that protected the artists’ work. I felt it was important they got paid for their efforts; so by me making copies and giving them out would defeat my purpose. I was always gracious in my refusals; part of the reason was I did not want anyone to think unkindly of me, unlike the main focus of this documentary. WHEN Steve Jobs the father of Apple computer died, the outpouring of grief and love expressed around the world was astounding to see. Even to those individuals who had experienced his wrath. Directed by Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks), this film covered a majority of events that have been told before. However, what I liked about this documentary was the variety of personal interviews from people who were there at the time of several major events in the life of Steve and Apple. I was thrilled to hear the stories behind the birth of such iconic items in our society such as the Ipod and Iphone. This should not come as a surprise but Steve appeared to have a split personality; one side was cerebral and contemplative and the other was a raging storm of spiteful anger. For me an Apple consumer, I was a bit uncomfortable hearing and seeing such poor behavior coming out of someone who was integral in making parts of my life easier. Geniuses come in many forms but it is always hard to hear someone we admire is not a nice person.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Wolfpack
When I want to take a break and check out of reality I allow myself a little time to dream about what my retirement (if I ever can) life might look like. I imagine I would still be involved in some type of physical activity such as yoga, cycling or running. The thing I like to focus on is the idea I would be able to spread out my movie watching time throughout the week, instead of doing multiple movies on the same day. The other item that plays a part in my retirement fantasy is the ability to travel more, without being limited by time constraints. I am convinced I would never be bored in retirement. Now the reason I am talking about this today has to do with turning dreams into reality. Now granted I do not know what the future holds for me, but it is important for me to maintain my dreams because they get me out of bed each day. I am a creature of habit so it is easy for me to sustain a daily routine. However, I know there will be times where I lose sight and feel I am stuck in my life. Fantasizing about the future is a stress reliever for me; it presents a world to me that looks familiar but has not opened its doors yet to me. I honestly do not know how someone can function being in the same place, doing the same thing every single day. After watching this picture, I am still having a hard time processing what I saw about this family from the lower east side of Manhattan. FROM their apartment the Anguro children could look out their window and see a world they were not part of because they were not allowed to go outside. Their days were spent watching then acting out scenes from the movies they watched on their small television. This film festival winning documentary was one of the more surreal movie watching experiences I have had in quite some time. As I said earlier I am still processing what essentially was a dramatic biography. With a mixture of the family’s home movies, on camera interviews and what I assumed was current filming; I sat in my seat in disbelief. I will say the brothers did an amazing job in recreating scenes from some classic films. This movie really made me think about dreams and hopes; because here I am able to talk about my conceived future, yet I sat and wondered what dreams or fantasies did these boys have growing up in their apartment or should I say prison cell. Though this was one of the most unusual stories I have ever seen, I had to admire the resiliency in these siblings.
3 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: A LEGO Brickumentary
Before I even knew I wanted them I was immediately attracted to this odd looking box stuffed in a bookcase at a relative’s house. The box had inside of it miniature brown colored logs in different sizes with notches near the ends. After looking at the instructions I started building a house with the logs. I was fascinated with this toy and soon changed the house into a fort. It did not take long before my imagination kicked into gear and I started creating my own structures that could only be found on a distant planet. Around the same time I discovered these logs I happened to be over at a friend of the family’s house and was given this toy to play with to occupy my time while the adults sat and visited with each other. This large metallic box was filled with stacks of dull looking girders, screws and fasteners. At first I was confused since there was no instructions but after dumping the contents onto the floor I just started attaching pieces together and wound up building a skyscraper. I was thrilled with my creation as I quickly went on to build something else. By the time the evening was over I had used almost every girder in that box. It turned out to be a good thing because when the hosts saw how I filled up their room, they told me if I put everything away I could keep the toy. I truly believe toys of this nature stimulate a child’s imagination. If you need proof simply watch what happens in this film festival nominated documentary narrated by Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses franchise, Bad Words). DIRECTED by Kief Davidson (Open Heart, The Devil’s Miner) and Daniel Junge (Iron Ladies of Liberia, They Killed Sister Dorothy), I was immediately attracted to the topic since I loved LEGO toys when I was a kid. There is something about LEGOs I believe that provide a comfort to everyone globally. Presently I cannot think of any friends or families who have children who do not have at least one LEGO set. The parts of this movie that surprised me the most were the ones that had to do with the adults who were creating works of art with LEGO bricks and the therapists who were using LEGOs as part of their treatment for autistic children. I had no idea this “simple” toy had such an affect on people. Now I grant you this movie did come across like one big informercial; things were kept on the light side and there was a lot of self promotion. However, there was such a mixture of joy and fun memories I was experiencing I just went along with the feelings, enjoying the scenes. It would not surprise me if after seeing this film a whole bunch of people grab a LEGO set and start playing with it.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Amy
There is no specific time or date when it happens; it just comes to mind one day and you realize you have fewer than more years left to live. I believe everyone has their own method in coming to this realization. For me, it happened when I attended a surprise 50th birthday party some years ago. One of the guests at the party was giving the birthday person well wishes by saying, “May you live another 50 years.” I remember at the time being struck by that comment because if the wish came true then it would mean the birthday person would live to be 100 years old. Ever since that time I once in a while think about what my life would be like at double my current age. In my younger years I was more flexible, both figuratively and literally, probably not as much as an older me. I have also noticed I am not as often surprised by people and events like I used to be; maybe because the more experience one gains in life, the less chance there is of being surprised since you have seen most of it before. My drive to continue on comes from the dreams I maintain; there are so many things I still want to do in this lifetime. An example would be my writing; since I was a little kid I wanted to write and now many years later I finally found an outlet for it, reaching that dream. I am well aware how fortunate I have been to get to this point in my life; this unbelievable documentary only reaffirmed it. DIRECTOR Asif Kapadia (Far North, The Warrior) created a nearly seamless story about 5 time Grammy award winner, British singer songwriter Amy Winehouse. The first thing that amazed me about this movie was the amount of footage there was of Amy, from her as a young child all the way up to the end. She appeared to be so unassuming, just wanting to make her music, but her demons took hold of her. The scenes where the British paparazzi go after Amy were unreal; the amount of camera flashes going off created a white wall of light around her. I do not know how anyone could handle it. Her story was solidly told here; so even if you were not a fan of her type of music, you still could appreciate the life of this celebrated musician. The only complaint I had about this film festival nominee was the length of the story. I felt the movie was a bit long where some of the events seemed like they were being rehashed, maybe just in a different locale. A little more editing would have solved it. This was a tragic story about a brilliant artist that made me feel grateful for being alive to see it.
3 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Knuckleball!
For some people when they hear these words they expect to have a fun time; others do not share the same feelings. “Start picking sides for your team,” are words I have always found to be twinged with cruelness. Let me show why I think this way. You have a group of people let us say who want to play a game of basketball. Two individuals have been picked as the team captains and they start taking turns picking people for their team. They are certainly going to pick those individuals they think can play well. So as player after player gets picked, imagine how the ones left standing must feel. It is not a real confidence booster, let me tell you. I know how it feels and it takes all the fun out of playing the game, knowing you really were not wanted for the team. There was one PE teacher I had in school who never had teams chosen in this fashion. He would have everyone line up side by side and starting at one end he would assign a number to each student. Usually it was in a series like 1, 2, 3 and 4; other times he would keep assigning numbers in numerical order. Once done he would say all the 1s and 4s will be one team and the 2s and 3s will be the other team. I always found this to be a fairer and kinder way in choosing sides. Ironically, I rose in the pecking order when the other students discovered I threw a hard, fast ball with bull’s-eye accuracy. Little did I know I would have more in common with this sports documentary. CONFUSION and frustration would be felt by both players and coaches who had or faced pitchers who threw knuckleball pitches. It was a baseball pitch that seemed to have a mind of its own. I was utterly surprised by this documentary DVD. The movie played more like a drama as it showed the highs and lows in a knuckleball pitcher’s life. The main focus of the story centered on Tim Wakefield from the Boston Red Sox and R. A. Dickey of the New York Mets. Each of their stories was so compelling to me; especially Tim who was one of the oldest pitchers in the league. As for the pitch itself, I had no idea what it took to throw such an unpredictable ball; I felt like I was getting a mini-class in physics. There were so many touching parts in this film, aided by the interviews of former pitchers Phil Niekro and Jim Bouton. I am not a team sports fan per se, but I have to tell you I thought this documentary was extra special as it focused on what some consider the underdogs of the baseball world.
3 1/3 stars – DVD
Flash Movie Review: Crude
It made a cool spaceship without its razor blade. There was an old metal razor in the cabinet below the sink that I would take out and pretend it was a spaceship. I would hold out the length of my arm and fly it around the house. The best part was how the tip of the handle would turn and the top of the straight razor would open up like dock doors. This is where my spaceship hid its laser cannon. I don’t even know if they make these types of razors anymore because I use disposable plastic ones. I can remember a time when a host wanted to give you leftovers; they would be on a dinner plate covered in tin foil. Now everyone has these disposable plastic containers in every imaginable size. When I am hosting a dinner party I buy several of these to give leftovers to my guest. Most people appreciate it because let us face it, who wants to wash and take care of someone else’s dinnerware until you can give it back to them. I actually do not give the containers a single thought once I turn them over to someone else; I do not expect them back. Everything is becoming disposable these days it seems. When I accidentally stepped on the plastic lid of a storage container and cracked it, I just threw it out and bought a new one. It is a mindset I acquired from everything around me; it never occurred to me to stop and think about what was the real price paid to stock all of this plastic stuff found on store shelves. Now that I have watched this film I give it a lot of thought. INVOLVING thousands of people and billions of dollars, this film festival winning documentary felt like a legal drama. This movie was about the lawsuit that the people of Ecuador brought against one of the largest multinational oil companies. Director Joe Berlinger (Brother’s Keeper, Under African Skies) did an incredible job of making this film interesting, informative and startling. I thought showing the opposing lawyers talking about the case was a perfect way to engage the viewer. Seeing some of the damage that had been done to the Amazon area, to the people who live there; I have to tell you I felt like I contributed to these people’s hardships by having a laissez-faire attitude towards disposable items. I think that really says something for the writers and director on the way they made this unbelievable documentary. For example they touched on human rights, politics, the environment and the loss of culture to name a few. When I was done watching this DVD I really wished I had that straight razor instead of those damn plastic disposable razors.
3 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Lambert & Stamp
The first time I saw the album cover was at my friend’s house. It was their brother’s record so we had to be careful when we pulled the record off of the shelf. I remember looking at the album cover and thinking I had seen it on a T-shirt that was hanging in the window of a store that was known as a “head shop.” I was not sure why the store was called that but I remember there were black lights inside that made things glow eerily in the dark. We would gently ease the record out of its paper sleeve and put it on the record player. (For those of you who do not know, this was a device that was used to listen to music pre-CD, cassette and 8 track times.) The music told a story all the way through the various song tracks. We especially enjoyed singing along with the lead singer Roger Daltrey when he sang, “See Me. Feel Me. Touch Me. Heal Me.” It was soon after I discovered this album was being referred to as a rock opera. I was fascinated with this term since I had never heard it before. Growing up I was exposed to operas like Carmen and Madame Butterfly, but for a popular piece that could be heard on the top 40 hits radio station to be called a rock opera was new to me. I did not know at the time I was listening to something that would become known as a rock classic and the band known as The Who would become world famous. ASPIRING filmmakers Kit Lambert and Christopher Stamp were looking to make a movie about the changing times in England. They came upon a band known as the High Numbers whose players looked the part the two men wanted to portray in their film. These men from opposite sides of the tracks were the most unlikeliest guys to manage a band, but they wound up becoming the band’s managers and so the story began. This biographical documentary was a walk in history for me. Still having vivid images of Tina Turner as the Acid Queen and Elton John as the Pinball Wizard, I enjoyed hearing about the band’s rise from obscurity to super stardom. Christopher who is the brother of actor Terrence Stamp (Wanted, Unfinished Song) and Pete Townshend handled the bulk of the narrative. Though I was pleased to see such early footage, I did not enjoy it being jerky and shaky. I understood a good portion of it had to be non-professional, but I still found it irritating. It was a small price to pay to gain insight into the workings of this band. The movie was too long as it was but I really wished they had shown the band performing some full songs from their rock opera.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
All the way to the amusement park we kept hearing about this fictional being that flies in the air. The adults in the car knew it was just a marketing tool to entice children into the park and more importantly into the gift shops. When we finally endured the long lines, mosquitoes and conveniently located souvenir stands; we were all sitting down in our seats in the theater. When the lights went down and the fictional being, who was a person wearing a costume, appeared on stage I looked down at the small child next to me and saw pure innocent wonderment. They had a stuffed toy of this thing that they slept with at night, one of their books and now it was live up on stage; I will never forget the look on that child’s face. It is too bad that innocence does not last longer in all of us. I am reminded of a conversation I had with a relative recently. They were telling me about their young daughter who was traumatized in class when a classmate said the Easter bunny was not real. Up until that point she had believed the bunny was real. This film reminded me what it was like to be a child again, steeped in an imaginary world. FROM a childhood of abuse and teasing emerged one of the biggest cultural icons; yet no one would ever recognize him walking down the street. For over 40 years puppeteer Caroll Spinney has been doing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, from the Muppets. Nearly 80 years old, he has no plans to stop being them. This film festival winning documentary was filled with so many memorable moments from the past that I could not help but relive parallel memories as I watched this magical movie. I cannot imagine any viewer sitting through this picture without making some kind of personal connection. I was stunned by what Caroll had to do to manipulate Big Bird’s costume; wait until you see him getting ready to perform. Hearing the different stories from the human Muppets like Frank Oz (Miss Piggy, Yoda) and Jim Henson (Kermit the Frog, Ernie) only endeared me more to these people and their creations. Now I did wonder if some things were told or depicted through sanitized lenses because they were a bit too cloyingly sweet. Another way of saying this would be, “A bit too schmaltzy.” However I absolutely forgave the minor faults, like the fuzzy home footage, of this film because of the high entertainment value it provided me. Maybe there are some people who do not want to see the reality behind these magical puppets, afraid it will burst their memories. I on the other hand got to be a little kid again for the night.
3 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Monkey Kingdom
Maybe it is their antics or the way they make eye contact with us, but there is something about monkeys that gives one a sense of familiarity. From my first stuffed animal I received after my birth, I have always had a fondness for our simian cousins. What I am about to say may sound odd to some of you; but from all the animals I have encountered either at a zoo or nature park, the eyes of monkeys convey more to me than any other animal. There is a soulfulness to their eyes that makes one feel they are looking at an old soul. Fortunately there are 2 major zoos close to where I live, so I have access to visiting them frequently. Now I know what I just said about the eyes can apply to some of our pets; trust me I know, who doesn’t melt when they look into the loving eyes of their pet. It is funny how we tend to humanize the different species within the monkey population; just take a look at the movie franchise, “Planet of the Apes.” Gorillas tend to be cast as the enforcers or the heavy muscle (except the cartoon character Magilla Gorilla). Orangutangs are looked at as either the brainy or unintelligent ones. Then there are the monkeys and chimpanzees who know how to have fun and are quite inquisitive. Maybe it is my own prejudices but I never associate war or fighting when it comes to monkeys. FROM Disneynature films this documentary was filmed in the jungles of South Asia about a family of monkeys. Directed by Mark Linfield (Earth, Chimpanzee) and narrated by Tina Fey (Muppets Most Wanted, Date Night), this movie was no less beautiful than the others from the film studio. It was incredibly shot with some scenes that one just had to sit and wonder how the camera people were able to get such close-up action. If you sit through the credits you will find out how they did it. Compared to previous animal based documentaries, I did not mind this film’s story. It provided some chuckles, touching moments, a couple of sad things and a few scenes of disbelief. I had to wonder if some scenes was staged because I could not believe what I was seeing on screen. From the first song of the soundtrack I actually burst out laughing because it was perfect for the scene. You will understand when you see it. Whether the scenes depicted were actually happening among the monkeys it did not matter to me. The story was good enough to the point where I believed it and as far as I was concerned, I was being entertained. I just wished my stuffed monkey was here to have seen it.
3 stars
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